Disabilities at a Glance

Area of Eligibility / Description
Autism
(AU) / (i) A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal
communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that
adversely affects a child's educational performance. Other characteristics often
associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotypical
movements, restricted interests, resistance to environmental change or change in daily
routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. This impairment may include: Autistic Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified
(Atypical Autism), Asperger’s Disorder, Rett’s Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative
Disorder or all Pervasive Developmental Disorders.
(ii) Autism does not apply if a child’s educational performance is adversely affected
primarily because the child has an emotional disability,
(iii) A child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three could be identified as having autism if the criteria in paragraph (i) of this section are satisfied.
Sometimes called autism spectrum disorder
Serious Emotional Disability (SED) / A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long
period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational
performance:
(A) An inability to make educational progress that cannot be explained by
intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
(B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with
peers and teachers.
(C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
(D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
(E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or
school problems.
Serious emotional disability includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply tochildren who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have anemotional disturbance under paragraph (b)(5)(i) of this section.
Deafness / Hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing
linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification that adversely affects the child’s educational performance.
Deaf-blindness / Hearing and visual impairments that occur together, the combination ofwhich causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children withdeafness or children with blindness.
Hearing Impaired (HI) / Impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section. The term “hard of hearing” may be used in this capacity.
Multiple Disabilities (MU) / Two or more disabilities occurring together (such as intellectual disability-blindness, intellectual disability-orthopedic impairment, etc.), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. Multiple disabilities does not include deaf-blindness.
Intellectually Disabled (ID) / Significantly sub average general intellectual functioning that adversely affects a child’s educational performance existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period.
Includes: Mild (IDMI); Moderate (IDMO); Severe (IDSE; Severe-Profound)
Orthopedically Impaired (OI) / A severe physical impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by a congenital anomaly, impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures, etc.).
Other Health Impairment (OHI) / Having limited strength, vitality or alertness, including aheightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that: (i) Is due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition,hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia,and Tourette’s Syndrome, etc.; and(ii) Adversely affects a child's educational performance.
Learning Disabled (LD) / A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processesinvolved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the impaired ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, braininjury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.Specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mentalretardation, of serious emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
Speech-Language Impaired (SI) / (i) A communication disorder, such as impairment in fluency, articulation, language, or voice/resonance that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
(ii) Language may include function of language (pragmatic), the content of language
(semantic), and the form of language (phonologic, morphologic, and syntactic
systems).(iii) A speech or language impairment may result in a primary disability or it may be secondary to other disabilities.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) / An acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physicalforce, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Traumatic brain injury applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. Traumatic brain injury does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
Developmentally Delayed (DD) / A child ages three through seven, whose development and/orbehavior is delayed or atypical, as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development, and who, by reason of the delay, needs special education and related services.
Visually Impaired including blindness (VI) / An impairment in vision that, even withcorrection, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness. A visual impairment is the result of a diagnosed ocular or cortical pathology.

Information from Policies Governing Services for Children with Disabilities, June 2010.

This and additional information can be found at: